Preach It Brother!

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4 I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom: 2 Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. 3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths. 2 Timothy 4:1-4

Sometimes when a pastor is preaching someone will yell out, "Preach it brother!" What does it mean to "preach it". What is "it"? And why is "it" so important?

As Paul continues to encourage and exhort his mentor Timothy, he tells him to "Preach the word of God!" The phrase "the word of God" is used in many different ways in the bible. God spoke His Word when he created humans and all that exists. God spoke his Word when he called Abraham and when he gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Finally, God has spoken His Word by sending His Son, Jesus, who is the Word of God. Jesus is the Word made flesh. This means that everything Jesus said and did reveals the true nature of God.  

It is this Word, Paul urges Timothy to preach. The Word of God is primarily the Good News of God sending His Son into the world to show the full extent of His love. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all scriptures (God's Word) are inspired by God and useful for teaching, correction, and rebuke so that the every man of God may be equipped for every good work.  

Though Timothy is specifically referring to the Old Testament, this same authority applies to the New Testament, which is equally impsired by God and transmitted through human authors. After all, if we don't believe in the authority and accuracy of the New Testament, we can't say without complete certainty the gospel of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is true. We could not say the book of Acts truly accounts for the sending of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. We could not assert Peter, Paul, and John's letters to the early church were written with apostolic authority and still apply to us today 2,000 years later. 

Importantly Paul tells Timothy that there will be a time where people won't want to hear preaching of God's Word. They will want teachers who will preach to them what they want to hear. They will not want sound doctrine, but would prefer preachers who endorse the issues they want them to support.  

Although there are many many daily applications of God's word, the pre-eminent goal of preaching is to proclaim the Gospel. The Good News about Jesus. We not only need to hear to come to faith in Jesus. We also need it to be strengthened every week, when our faith is beaten down by the pressures of the world and our own sinful nature.  The devil is constantly condemning us, but the gospel assures us that we are saved by God's work not our work.  

And while a pastor is specifically called and ordained to preach and teach God's Word in a local church, every member of the body of Christ can proclaim to the gospel with their family and friends. We can all admonish each other to listen to and obey God's word in small groups and other settings. God's Word will never call us to do anything but what Jesus would want us to do. The center of the bible is Jesus. The Old Testament prophesied his first coming. The Gospels give us four historal accounts from four different writers of his life, death and resurrection. The letters are written after Jesus' resurrection to specific churches in places like Ephesus and Corinth, as they carried out the Great Commission. Finally, the book of Revelation tells us that one day Jesus will return in great and promised glory to raise the living and the dead to eternal life. 

Preach it brother! Preaching sister! Preach it young people! Preach it old people! 

Now more than ever we need to courageously preach God's Word to a world that is increasingly hostile to it, but needs it now more than ever! 

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." Isaiah 40:8





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